Distance piece for concrete reinforcing rods and the like



July 23, 1968 K. w. OLIVER 3,393,489

DISTANCE PIECE FOR CONCRETE REINFORCING RODS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 10,1966 INVENTOR: KEITH WILLIAM 0m var United States Patent 3,393,489DISTANCE PIECE FOR CONCRETE REINFORCING RODS AND THE LIKE Keith W.Oliver, Manchester, England, assignor to Celmac Plasclip Limited,Chester, England, a corporation of Great Britain Continuation-impart ofapplication Ser. No. 343,702, Feb. 10, 1964. This application Oct. 10,1966, Ser. No. 596,362 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb.16, 1963, 6,363/ 63 3 Claims. (Cl. 52689) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adistance piece for supporting a concrete reinforcing rod at apredetermined distance from either a flat or arcuate support surface andcomprising a plastic solid member having a generally triangular body,arcuate arms extending upwardly from the body to receive the rod, and apair of parallel cylindrical feet at the base corners of the body. Thefeet project beyond both sides of the body in parallel relation with thereinforcing rod. The triangular body has a substantially downwardlyconcave bottom between the feet so as to be spaced from the supportsurface and there is only line contact between the cylindrical feet andthe support surface.

This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No.343,702, filed Feb. 10, 1964, for Distance Pieces.

This invention relates to a distance piece for supporting a reinforcingmember in spaced relationship from a surface, and comprising a base partadapted to stand on the surface and provided with means for supportingthe reinforcing member, the dimension between the base part and thesupporting means determining the height above the surface at which thereinforcing member is supported.

Distance pieces of the kind referred to are commonly used forpositioning reinforcing rods in moulds to be used for casting concretemembers having such rods embedded therein, the distance pieces beingembedded in the concrete and forming part of the finished concreteproduct.

According to a major object of this invention a distance piece of thekind referred to is characterized in that said base part is adapted tocontact the surface when stood thereon at two or more discrete spacedapart locations, the base part being shaped in such a manner as to bespaced from the surface at positions intermediate the locations.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel distance piecewhich is non-tiltable on both flat and curved support surfaces and whichseats on either flat or curved support surfaces substantially only alongparallel lines that are contained in planes each extending tangentiallyof a circle. Whether mould support surface be flat or curved, therefore,little, if any, of the distance piece will be visible after the mould isremoved.

Further objects of this invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds in connection with the appended claims and annexed drawingswherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of two distance pieces supporting areinforcing bar; and

FIGURE 2 is an end view partly in section of a distance piece andreinforcing bar.

An integrally solid distance piece A for supporting a reinforcing bar Bis formed with a generally triangular body portion a with one or moreapertures a passing therethrough in regions thereof below supportingarms or wings a Distance piece A is moulded from a resilient mouldableplastics material such as polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane.

The distance piece A is formed with a base portion a of substantiallytriangular shape and two spaced parallel cylindrical members a formingfeet extending from portion a. The support arms or wing a are arrangedparallel toeach other and extend from the apex of the body portion a andthe cylindrical feet are located at the remaining two corners of bodyportion a respectively and are disposed at right angles to body portiona and extend for a short distance on either side thereof.

The bottom edge a of the body portion extending between members a is ofconcave shape so that when distance piece A is located by members a on asurface, the bottom edge of base part a is spaced from the surface.

The free ends of arms a are each formed with an inwardly extending lip ato engage bar B.

In'use the distance piece A is located by members a on a surface 1 whichis to be filled or covered with concrete or the like such as that of amould or a floor, for example.

The reinforcing rod B is inserted between the arms or wings a which,owing to their resilience, may be forced apart by the rod for thispurpose. The rod B is firmly located between the arms or wings a by thelips a and rests between the arms or wings and is supported in spacedrelationship at a distance determined by the dimensions of the distancepiece A from the surface 1.

Concrete is poured onto the surface and the reinforcing rod B togetherwith the distance piece A supporting same are embedded therein.

The distance pieces A are firmly secured in the concrete particularly bythe concrete which passes under the concave portion between the feet andthe surface and by the concrete which passes through the hole a As shownin the drawings, arms a are arcuate in shape and define an upwardlyopening, flexible socket for receiving rod B. Members a extend beyondoppositely facing sides of body portion a along axes which are parallelwith the longitudinal axis of the arm-defining flexible socket and hencewith the longitudinal axis of rod B received in the socket. Theoppositely sides of body portion a lie in parallel planes which normallyintersect the longitudinal axes of members a and the flexible,rod-receiving socket. Members a extend the same distance outwardly fromeach of these parallel planes.

As shown, members a and arms a are substantially symmetrical withrespect to a central plane passing through the apex of body portion amidway between the members and the arms. Members a art thus spacedequidistantly from the aligned longitudinal axes of rod B and theflexible, rod-receiving socket at equal angles on opposite sides of theabove-mentioned central plane containing the apex of body portion a andthe axis of rod B. Members a are shown to be parallel with theabove-mentioned central plane and to have equally diametered, circularcross-sections.

With the foregoing construction, therefore, it is clear that thecircular outline of surface 1, which has its center coinciding with thelongitudinal axis of rod B, will only substantially tangentially contactthe cylindrical peripheries of members a as shown in FIGURE 2. Members aalso will only tangentially contact a flat support surface owing totheir configuration and relative positions. This feature of theinvention is particularly advantageous in supports rods in moulds whichare used for producing 3 v. reinforced concrete units and the likebecause, whether the mould support surface be flat or curved as shown inFIGURE 2, little, if any, of the distance piece will be visible afterthe concrete has set and the mould is removed since the mould onlycontacts the distance piece tangentially along two spaced parallel lineslocated axially on the peripheries of members a As a result, theexternal peripheral surface of the moulded product will not be marredand will not require the removal of protruding portions of pieces usedto support the reinforcing rod.

In effect, a surface plane tangentially touching the bottom periphery ofone of the members a and normally intersecting the central planementioned above will tangentially touch the bottom periphery of theother member. Likewise, a support surface in the form of an arc struckfrom the center of rod B and tangentially touching the periphery of oneof the members a will also tangentially touch the other member.

In addition to the foregoing advantages, it is clear that the distancepiece of this invention, owing to the arrangement and configuration ofmembers a*, is non-tiltable on curved support surfaces as shown inFIGURE 2 as well as flat surfaces. Consequently, a steady support isprovided for the reinforcing rod before the concrete is poured and set.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A distance piece for supporting a concrete reinforcing rod at apredetermined distance from a surface comprising an integral solidmember of relatively resilient plastic material having a generallytriangular body, a pair of arcuate arms extending upwardly at the apexof said body to define an upwardly open flexible socket for receivingsaid rod, inwardly extending lips on said arms for engaging and holdingsaid rod between said arms, a pair of similar parallel cylindrical feetat the base corners of said body, said feet projecting beyond both sidesof said body in parallel relation with the rod received in said socketand being adapted to rest on said surface, and means defining asubstantially downwardly concave bottom on said body between said feetso as to be spaced from said surface, said feet and arms beingsubstantially symmetrical with respect to a central plane passingthrough the apex of the body midway between said feet and arms, saidfeet being parallel to said central plane and being spaced equidistantlyfrom the longitudinal axis of said rod at equal angles on opposite sidesof said central plane, said feet being so disposed and configured that asupport surface plane tangentially touching the bottom periphery of oneof said feet and perpendicularly intersecting said central planetangentially touches the periphery of the other of said feet and that asupport surface in the form of an arch struck from the center of the rodin said socket and tangentially touching the periphery of one of saidfeet tangentially touches the periphery of the other of said feet.

2. The distance piece defined in claim 1 wherein said body has oppositesides lying in parallel planes which normally intersect said centralplane and wherein each of said feet extend the same distance outwardlyfrom each of said planes, with only said feet contacting the surfacefrom which said rod is adapted to be supported.

3. The distance piece defined in claim 2 comprising means defining atleast an aperture through said body intermediate said socket and saidconcave bottom, said aperture being adapted to receive the material forembedding said rod and said body and thereby enabling said material toeffectively form a ring passing through said aperture and under saidconcave bottom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,191,345 6/ 1965 Schwachula52-689 3,209,509 10/1965 OCallaghan 52-688 FOREIGN PATENTS 612,4861/1961 Canada. 1,244,183 9/1960 France.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner.

